Bill Clinton stumps at MCCC

Former President Bill Clinton addresses a crowd gathered at a rally outside the Athletic Building at the Montgomery County Community College during one of several stops he planned on making in Pennsylvania Monday. Photo by Gene Walsh / Times Herald Staff

WHITPAIN — Despite low temperatures, more than a thousand people crowded the campus of Montgomery County Community College around the Physical Education Gymnasium and into the campus’ tennis courts to hear former President Bill Clinton speak as part of a last-minute campaign tour undertaken by the former president on behalf President Barack Obama that included stops in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Monday afternoon.

At the event, which was originally scheduled to be held indoors in the gymnasium but had to be moved outdoors to accommodate the crowd, Clinton spoke passionately on behalf of the current president, stating that the president’s policies do not favor individual groups, instead encouraging cooperation amongst all groups.

“I’m for the candidate who understands that America works better when it works like a community college. You get to show up without regard to age or race or gender or sexual orientation or anything else. You’re judged on your merits,” said Clinton to increasing applause from the audience.

As the former president continued to speak, he questioned several claims made by challenger Mitt Romney and also questioned the challenger’s hesitance to provide any clear details on his plans and policies should he be elected president

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Most notably, Clinton lambasted Romney over claims that Obama was working with Detroit automakers to outsource the production of Jeep automobiles to China. According to Clinton, despite the fact that the presidents of both Chrysler and General Motors refuted these claims, the Romney campaign refused to back down on the charges.

“Who wants a president that will knowingly, repeatedly tell you something that he knows is not true and when all this happened, they put it on television? The more they were criticized, the more the more they upped the ad money,” said Clinton. “When Gov. Romney gets his hands caught in the cookie jar, he just digs down for more cookies.”

Finally, Clinton praised the president’s policies on student loans, which will ease the burden that many college students face, which elicited cheers of approval from the audience, which included a number of students from the college, along with many other young people.

“He has invested in pre-school, the race to the tops, and the finest student loan reform in my lifetime,” said Clinton. “They changed the old system where we paid the banks a fee and guaranteed their loans at higher interest rates to a new system in which every college in America that participates in this program certifies the students. They get the loan at lower interest rates and, this is the most important thing of all, starting next year, every single student in the United States of America will have the absolute right to pay those loans back at a low, fixed percent of their income for up to 20 years.”

A number of local politicians also attended the event, including Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, who led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance, Rep. Tim Briggs, Rep. Matt Bradford, and Sen. Daylin Leach. Additionally, Democratic Congressional candidates Manny Trivedi, George Badey, Kathy Boockvar and Rep. Allyson Schwartz spoke at the event.

After all four candidates spoke, Schwartz introduced the former president, much to the crowd’s delight, praising Clinton’s experience and the efforts he has made this campaign season.

“He knows what you have to do, what can be done when you have the right priorities and the right leadership. He knows how the wrong leadership can hurt the America that we love,” Schwartz said. “He has crisscrossed this nation, cajoling and inspiring Americans to vote for President Obama and for Democrats for Congress and Democrats up and down the ticket.”

The rally at MCCC was part of last-minute campaigning by both candidates in Pennsylvania, which is expected to be closely contested between the candidates and could be a key state in determining the election. Romney held a rally in Bucks County in Sunday afternoon, with the Obama campaign countering with Clinton’s travels on Monday.